Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
More retirees are expected to join the gig economy to make money this year to supplement their income, according to this article on Yahoo Finance. This year more retirees are also likely to go on trips that offer unique experiences and prefer to remain in their current home instead of relocating. “This trend continues into 2017 as boomers are redefining what it means to be ‘old’ and living life on their own terms, and in their own homes,” says a consumer analyst.
A client who has remarried cannot claim Social Security divorced widow benefit on her former husband's record even if they had been married for 10 years, according to this article on Forbes. The client is entitled to a reduced divorced widow benefit on her ex-husband's record at age 60 if she gets divorced from her current spouse or her new husband dies.
Traditional and Roth IRAs offer unique tax benefits for retirement investors, according to this article on Motley Fool. While both accounts offer tax-deferred growth on savings, contributions to a traditional IRA are pre-taxed while a Roth IRA is funded with after-tax dollars. Investors owe ordinary tax income on traditional IRA withdrawals, while money drawn from a Roth IRA is exempt from taxes. Clients are advised to weigh their options before choosing which one to use to save for retirement.
A study by The Senior Citizens League has found that retirees could get bigger lifetime benefit payouts from Social Security if the program computes the cost-of-living adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, according to this article on Fox Business. That is because the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which Social Security is using to determine COLAs, does not reflect the spending habits of retirees, the study found. A switch to the CPI-E could increase lifetime retirement benefit payouts by as much as $30,000, according to TSCL.
Florida, Wyoming, South Dakota and Iowa are among the best states for Americans to retire in based on affordability, quality of life and health care, according an article on CNBC. Colorado, Idaho, South Carolina and Nevada also made it to the list of best destinations for retirees. "When it comes to overall affordability, taxes and inexpensive healthcare are things that could really help stretch that fixed income even further," says an analyst with WalletHub.
